Removable post construction for automobile bodies and the like



REMOVABLE POST CONSTRUCTION FOR AUTOMOBILE BODIES AND THE LIKE Filed June 29, 1938 17 INVENTOR. J m 7 JMLZYHJWJFT a l ATTORNEY Patented Aug. 27, 1940 REMQVABLE POST CONSTRUCTION FOR AUTOMOBILE BODIES AND THE LIKE Stanley H. Swift, Saginaw, Mich.

Application June 29, 1938, Serial No. 216,447

1 Claim.

This invention relates generally to vehicle bodies and in particular to motor vehicles of the double door or sedan type.

More particularly the invention pertains to an 5 improved arrangement for converting a sedan into an'invalid car, ambulance or the like by removing the side post of the car, which is provided with jambs for the front and rear doors, in order that the whole side of the carshall be open and unobstructed when the two side doors are open and the post has been removed.

It may'be observed that removable posts have heretofore been designed, but with the idea of removing the post from the car body by leaving '7 the post attached to the j ambof one of the doors so that when the door wasopened the post was carried outwardly by that door. Such arrangements required that the post be in an upright position while being removed from the car body because it was fastened to the edge ,of a door, and that necessitated that the top of the post be unlatched from the car roof and the bottom of the post be unlatched from the car floor simultaneously. Consequently, mechanism such as 25 handles and rodcontrolled latches had to be provided so that by turning the handle a top bolt and a bottom bolt could be retracted together. The essential features of the earlier devices were, therefore, that the top and bottom of the post must be unlatched simultaneously in order to permit the post to be removed from the car body, and in vertical position, along with a door.

In my inventionthe post between the doors is arranged so it can be taken away from the car after both doors have been opened, and independently of the action of the doors. It is first released from the top of i the car by a latch arrangement of simplified construction, and then the top of the post is moved outwardly by hand, 40 bringing the post into an outwardly inclined or tilted position. This tilting movement releases the lower connection between the floor of the car and the post, enabling the post to be lifted free.

By this tilting operation the expenseof a special new post with simultaneously operated latches and mechanisms for operating them need not be incurred whenit is desired to convert a sedan car into an ambulance. Instead, the ordinary car post is employed with the addition of a relatively simple and inexpensive latch connection at the top and a simplified hook connection at the bottom. These top and bottom fittings can be purchased by the user of any sedan and it is then merely necessary for him to cut 'off the ordinary post at the top and bottom and apply the two fittings. Another object of my improvement is to so arrange the parts that the post will be held sol idly in place while the car is used as a sedan and will be practically as rigid, strong, and quiet as a built-in post. 1 Another object of my invention is to provide top and bottom connections for the post such that it will be held firmly against movement inward, outward, or sidewise both at the top and at the bottom, yet permits the top to be released and pushed outward by a movement of the op erators hand, thereby freeing the upper end of the post from the car'body and making it easy for the operator to lift the post and remove it from the car.

Thus by two movements, an outward push at the top of the post and a lift, the side door space of the car is left unobstructed, and a cot can b be put sidewise into the vehicle.

With the foregoing and certain other objects in view which will appear later in the specifications, my invention comprises the devices described and claimed and the equivalents thereof.

In the drawing, Fig. 1 is a side view of a sedan car body with my improvement applied thereto.

Fig. 2 is a detail view showing theoutwardly tiltedposition of the post,

Fig. 3 is a side view of the upper fastening means applied to the post and the car roof,

Fig. l is a front view of the same, and

Fig. 5 is a part sectional view showing an arrangement of the footstep bearing for the post.

Referring to the drawing, the car body I has two side doors '2, 3, and the vertical post 4 presents jambs 5, 5 for the doors. The top of the post is severed from the body of the automobile near the roof line 5 and also at the floor line 1.

To enable the post to be removed by an outward tilting of its top portion and then be released from the floor of the car with a simple lifting movement, I provide at the upper end of the post a fastening means, indicated generally at 8, to releasably secure the post to the roof of the car 9. The upper fastening means, which is shown in detail in Figs. 3 and 4, comprises a catch member it secured inside the car beneath the roof and a coacting latch II fastened to the inside face of the post 4 at its upper end. The 5 outer faces of the catch member I0 and the latch member H are flush with each other and so are fastened flatwise to the inside vertical portion of the roof 9 and the inside face of the post 4, respectively.

a hook l2, actuated by a spring l3, and having a handle it which is pivoted at Ma to the member H. When the hook I 2 and the end Illa of an inwardly projecting abutment llib on catch member H] are in engagement as shown in Fig. 3 the upperend of post i is thereby locked against outward movement but when handle it is pushed outwardly, that is, toward the post i, the latter tilts outwardly, as shown in Fig. 2. Catch IQ and latch ii are prevented from moving sidewise or up and down in relation to each other by one or more dowel-like, projections E5, on one of the members iii or i i, rernovably received in recesses it of the other member when post a is in place,

When the two members it and ii are engaged, the projections 55, which in this instance are shown as dowel pins that project inwardly from the plate of the latch El and enter holes in the appropriate ofisetportion of the plate of catch ing ll by which the bottom of the post is secured to the floor 'l of the car. This footstep bearing has downwardly and outwardly directed clawlike members i8 appropriately shaped to hook into holes 89 in a foot plate 26 which is fastened to the car floor and inside the car body I. The claw-like members 88 are preferably curved dowel pins shaped so that when hooked into the holes iii of the foot plate iii they will prevent sidewise movement or vertical movement of. the bottom of the post, but when the post is in its outwardly tilted position, shown in Fig. 2, the dowels can be removed from the holes by tilting the post.

When secured by the top and bottom fastenings the post is for all intents and purposes the same as if it were built integral with the car body.

To remove the post the operator opens both doors, places one hand on the handle i i and pushes the handle outwardly, that is, toward the post. This releases the hook i2, and the same action tilts the upper part of the post outwardly away from the car. The post is then lifted from its footstep bearing, leaving the whole side of the car clear for use as an ambulance or the like.

To replace the post the operator first places its bottom end on the plate Eii with the claw-like members i8 hooked into the holes 59, then pushes the top of the post inwardly, whereupon the fastening means 8 automatically locks the top of the post to the roof of the car and the hooks lock the bottom of the post to the footplate 29. The post is thus fastened firmly both to the top and bottom of the car body and its movement in all directions with relation to the body is thereby prevented.

No parts of the post fastening devices are observable from outside the car, and the only visible part inside the car is the fastening means 8, which is located high up, under the roof, and is inconspicuous.

By the means above described I have provided a simplified and relatively inexpensive arrangement for converting an automobile of sedan type into an ambulance, mortuary car or the like at small expense, thus avoiding the necessity of constructing a new post or of rebuilding the original one, as has heretofore been done. No special structures are required such as changes in the details of the doors, and the same post construction can be employed in this arrangement as is usually built into the ordinary sedan car, it being only necessary to put in place the footstepplate I! with the associated claw-like members l8 and the upper fastening means 8.

The operation of my improved device is extremely simple. There is no handle to turn in order to release or fasten the post and no rodactuated latching devices are required to be released simultaneously as in earlier devices.

If desired, my improved structure may be built into the car by the car manufacturer at aslight additional cost. I

It is to be noted that the dowel connections [5 and 6 at the top of .the post, in conjunction with the claw i8 and the plate 20, serve the very important purpose of connecting the roof and bot tom of the car to the post so efi'ectively that the latter acts not only as a strut between the roof and the floor, stiffening the body by taking the compressive forces, but it also serves as a tierod to act in tension as a stanchion and. binds the roof and floor together. This is done by the co-' operative anchoring action of the dowels I5 and the claws I8.

To put the post 4 in place it is tilted and the claws 88 are first inserted in plates 26 so as to engage them from underneath, as shown in Fig. 5, after which the post is brought to the upright position shown in Fig. 3, when the dowels [5 en ter the apertures l6. Thereby the upper part of the post is fixed against vertical as well as sidewise movements. The hook 12 on latch member I l keeps it from moving outwardly, and the post is thus locked against movement in any direction until after the handle M has been operated.

By this arrangement the car roof and floor are so completely reinforced against racking actions on the road that the body when used as a sedan is as strong and rigid as though the post were built integral with the body.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

In a device of the class described for holding a removable door post, a catch comprising a plate having an inwardly projecting member, a latch adapted to coact with said catch comprising a plate, a hook pivoted thereon engageable with said inwardly projecting member, said hook having a handle extending parallel with the plate, a spring interposed between the plate and handle normally urging the handle inwardly, the outer faces of said plate and latch member being flush in their assembled position, and dowel-like projections spaced apart on said plate and projecting inwardly therefrom and arranged to register with spaced recesses provided in the catch.

STANLEY H. 

